The Hagia Sophia: Under Siege Again

On this day in 537, the Hagia Sophia, as we know it today, was inaugurated by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian.

It is one of the most beautiful churches every built, in my opinion, and a wonderful representation of The Glory Of God.

The Church has had, to say the least, a tumultuous history.

-During an earthquake in 558, the main dome collapsed. It was rebuilt and made even more magnificent.

-The basilica was damaged in a fire in 859 and restored

-In 869, another earthquake caused the half-dome to collapse, but it was rebuilt.

-The year 989 saw extensive damage to the Church, but it was lovingly restored.

-Over the next several centuries the Church survived more earthquakes and even the sacking of it by Latin Christians.

Despite all of the magnificent restorations, the Church’s doom as a place for the worship of The One True God took place in 29 May 1453, when the demonic forces of Islam captured Constantinople.

That the Hagia Sophia survived and was not reduced to rubble by the barbarous Mohammedins must be creditied to the Muslim conqueror Mehmet and his vanity. From the Wikipedia entry:

Constantinople was taken by the Ottomans on May 29, 1453. In accordance with the custom at the time Sultan Mehmet II limited his troops three days of unbridled pillage once the city fell, after which he would claim its contents himself. Hagia Sophia was not exempted from the pillage, becoming its focal point as the invaders believed it to contain the greatest treasures of the city. Shortly after the city’s defenses collapsed, pillagers made their way to the Hagia Sophia and battered down its doors. Throughout the siege worshipers participated in the Holy Liturgy and Prayer of the Hours at the Hagia Sophia, and the church formed a refuge for many of those who were unable to contribute to the city’s defense, such as women, children and elderly. Trapped in the church, congregants and refugees became spoils to be divided amongst the Ottoman invaders. The building was desecrated and looted, and occupants enslaved, violated or slaughtered; while elderly and infirm were killed, women and girls were raped and the remainder chained and sold into slavery. Priests continued to perform Christian rites until stopped by the invaders. When the Sultan and his cohort entered the church he insisted it should be at once transformed into a mosque. One of the Ulama then climbed the pulpit and recited the Shahada.

Thus, one of the greatest Houses Of Worship was desecrated by foul Demoniacs…but it survived.

Thankfully for Christians, in 1935 the founder of the Republic of Turkey and first Turkish President and , Mustafa Kemal Ataturk made the Church into a museum, so no longer would Muslims be able to foul the air in it with their depraved prayers and calls.

The Hagia Sophia had survived and was now open to Christians again.

But now, the Church is under threat again.

From the Religious News Service, via the Huffington Post, Jacob Resneck reporting, we learn [tip of the fedora to Pope News]:

In this ancient city, there are few sights more iconic than the dome of the Hagia Sophia, towering over the old city for more than 1,400 years.

But recent conversions of former Byzantine-era churches from museums into mosques, encouraged by religious and political leaders, have caused alarm among religious minorities and Turkey’s Christian neighbors.

“We currently stand next to the Hagia Sophia Mosque,” Turkey’s deputy prime minister, Bulent Arinc, remarked last month during a dedication of a museum of Caucasus carpets and rugs in the Hagia Sophia complex. “We are looking at a sad Hagia Sophia but hopefully we will see it smiling again soon.”

Arinc, also a senior Cabinet minister from the ruling Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party, mentioned two recent conversions of smaller Byzantine-era museums — in Trabzon in the northeast and Iznik near Istanbul — that have become working mosques.

The speech was just the latest call for the building to be converted into a mosque after a sermon in October by the imam of the neighboring Sultan Ahmet mosque….

It is bad enough that we have had to endure all the desecrations of that Church since 1453. If the Turkish Government does this, Europe should [forget The United States under Obama], if it was in it’s right mind, break off all relations with those murderous Muslim bastards, but, of course, nothing will happen and another symbol of Civilization will fall into the filthy hands of the Demoniacs and they will have created another Victory Mosque.

That West of ours having become a buffoon, its final tragedy could well be a joke.

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